UCLA Medical Center: Opening in 1955 and Relocation in 2008

Around the end of the Second World War, Southern California physicians promoted the creation of a University of California medical center in the region. In 1947, Stafford Warren, formerly of the University of Rochester medical school, became the first dean of UCLA’s medical school. He recruited faculty from Rochester, Johns Hopkins and other universities. UCLA initially lacked a complete hospital of its own, and some researchers worked in temporary, semicylindrical buildings on campus.

Construction of the medical center began in 1951, when the medical school also welcomed its first 28 students, taught by 15 faculty members. Early classes met in the reception hall of an old religious conference building. The new campus plan brought medical education, a fully equipped hospital and research facilities together, aiming to connect classroom learning with clinical work.

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As newly appointed faculty arrived, research space had to be found before the new buildings were ready. Martin Cummings of the Veterans Administration’s research service helped coordinate an arrangement between Warren and Boone, the agency’s chief medical officer. Space at the Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital in Los Angeles was adapted for medical school faculty.

The Veterans Administration paid for setting up the facilities, but subsequently provided little direct funding for these university faculty projects. Cooperation largely rested on shared space and personnel: university faculty and hospital researchers worked at the same location. After the university medical center opened in 1955 and acquired research facilities of its own, several full-time university faculty remained at Wadsworth. The institutional partnership continued after the new hospital opened.

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The medical center that began admitting patients on July 7, 1955 stood on UCLA’s Westwood campus. It initially had 320 beds, increasing to 669 by 1967. Opening the hospital gave the medical school a large inpatient facility of its own. Alongside patient care, it brought faculty, medical students and physicians undertaking further training together in a clinical setting.

The University of California’s medical center financial report describes it as the medical school’s principal teaching site and includes support for education in medicine, dentistry, nursing and public health in its mission. Hospital work followed two interconnected rhythms: continuous care for patients, and university teaching and research. The 1955 date marks the opening of this university medical center’s original hospital.

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The 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the old medical buildings, prompting construction of replacement facilities. I. M. Pei, C. C. Pei and Perkins+Will were among the designers of the new building. Funding combined federal and state resources with private donations. The hospital was named after Ronald Reagan, the former California governor and US president.

On June 29, 2008, around 2,300 staff and volunteers helped move 335 inpatients into the new hospital. Teams handled transport, receiving patients, directions and information, while vehicles followed planned routes and the old and new emergency departments completed their handover. At 12:40 p.m., the hospital announced that the last patient had arrived. The building also accommodated the children’s hospital and the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, continuing medical work begun in 1955.

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Later service planning also drew on formal community surveys. Using the home locations of local inpatients, the 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment defined the health system’s shared service area as 28 ZIP codes and 18 cities or communities. The center worked with neighboring hospitals to gather information.

The assessment combined local statistics with 37 telephone interviews conducted in October and November 2021. Community participants discussed barriers to care, housing, mental health and other concerns. This extended the hospital’s attention beyond people already admitted to its wards to residents who had yet to obtain services, providing a basis for planning community benefit programs.

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